Station played national anthem and suspended programming after pre-recorded death announcements were accidentally broadcast
Radio Caroline breached broadcasting rules after falsely announcing that King Charles III had died and suspending normal programming as a mark of respect. The extraordinary error happened at around 2.05pm on 19 May 2026 during The Barry Marsh Show, when three pre-recorded announcements relating to the death of the monarch were broadcast. Listeners were incorrectly told that King Charles III had died, with one of the announcements claiming the news had been confirmed by the media. The station then played the national anthem, before DAB+ listeners were met with around 16 minutes of silence. Listeners on AM continued to hear music.
Pre-recorded files played during computer maintenance
An investigation by Radio Caroline established that a member of staff carrying out maintenance on a studio computer had accessed three audio files prepared for use in the event of the King’s death. The recordings included instructions explaining when they should be broadcast. However, according to the station, the staff member played the recordings “out of curiosity”. Doing so interrupted the programme being remotely streamed by presenter Barry Marsh and resulted in the announcements being transmitted to listeners. The member of staff subsequently realised what had happened and left the premises. Radio Caroline restored normal programming and contacted the presenter to tell him that his programme had been taken off air. The staff member responsible was reprimanded and apologised.
Ofcom finds ‘very significant inaccuracy’
At around 2.35pm — approximately 30 minutes after the original announcement — an apology was broadcast, explaining that the information was incorrect and had been aired because of a technical issue. However, Ofcom concluded the response was not sufficient given the seriousness of what had been broadcast. The regulator described the announcement of the King’s death as a “very significant inaccuracy”, particularly because of the considerable public interest surrounding the health and wellbeing of the monarch. Ofcom found that the seriousness of the mistake was increased by the fact the announcement was repeated, listeners were told the media had confirmed the King’s death, and the national anthem was subsequently played. Although the incident resulted from human error, Ofcom said Radio Caroline remained responsible for ensuring its broadcasts complied with the Broadcasting Code. The regulator also concluded that the correction was not issued sufficiently promptly and did not adequately reflect the seriousness of the original false announcement. Radio Caroline has since removed the recordings from the studio computer and transferred them to an external drive. Staff have also been reminded of the procedures surrounding such material. Ofcom found the station in breach of Rules 5.1 and 5.2 of the Broadcasting Code, which concern due accuracy in news and the acknowledgement and correction of significant mistakes.
Originally published by UKNIP.
